LO is 15 months old and is 18 lbs, 5 oz. She barely picks at food. Like she might eat 2 beans at one sitting, and maybe 2 puffs at another sitting, maybe a saltine cracker later. Her hemoglobin got low for a while, but I gave her polyvisol with iron and her hemoglobin came back up. She learned how to walk officially last month. She is still growing in length, but slowly. She didn't really gain any weight last month, but she was sick AND began walking, so we feel like we were lucky to just break even. The pediatrician wasn't pleased with her lack of weight gain, but also wasn't concerned enough to need to see her back before her next appt in March. LO has been evaluated by a speech path and an occupation therapist for sensory aversion because she won't eat anything mushy. She just plays with it. She won't let me spoonfeed her. She is still nursing and I've been writing down her nursing so I can make sure she gets 8 in 24 hours. That's kind of an arbitrary number, but I feel good about it. She poops and pees plenty when I make sure we nurse that often. But what else can I be doing? The therapists just weren't that helpful. They give me ideas, but none of them have really helped much. She's such a busy baby, I really want to supplement her diet someway, but it's so hard! She won't let me spoonfeed her. I just would like her to be back on the chart. How can I put some more weight on her?

I read on here where someone said low supply can actually make them not want to eat table food?? My supply might be low, IDK, but my ovulation hasn't returned. My breasts don't get that heavy full feeling anymore, and I think I've finally stopped forcefully spraying, but I know that those aren't actual indicators of supply, anyway.

Anyway, I just need some suggestions. Not to be told that some babies don't take an interest in solids until such and such age, or that she's probably just a lean baby. I have not introduced cow's milk yet, but I was considering it. We buy raw cow's milk that doesn't have a nutrition label on it, so I have no idea how many fat grams are in one serving. But I was thinking of offering her like 4 oz. a day and continuing to nurse like crazy. She will drink from a sippy a little bit.

She seems to have a reason she doesn't want food. I know some babies don't take an interest in solids until the middle of the second year, but what about the ones that are like mine, very busy, very skinny, and needing iron supplementation to keep hemoglobin at a healthy level.

Thanks in advance.

February 18th, 2013, 04:48 PM

@llli*mammi

Re: Older baby not eating food and fell off weight chart

reading this makes we curious in what setting you are offering her the food? You and her alone? or are others at the table?
I ask because I have a friend who had a similar problem when her daughter was that age and one of the things that finally helped them was that during meal times they took the focus off the child and how much she ate or did not eat. Instead of centering the meal around her food intake and arguing in front of her about her lack of appetite and weight loss and the problem they forced themselves to ignore her lack of interest and eventually as their attention was not on it she very slowly began to eat more. She is now 3 and still skinny and a picky eater but not as bad as it was. But I have not had this situation myself, reading your post simply reminded me of my friend's problem. They did other things too, like feed her cream with honey (if you have access to raw milk that should be easy) and what seems to me an inordinate amount of sweets but if I remember right the thing that was a break through was changing their own behaviour at meals. Now she goes to day care and although she still eats small portion she does eat her meals there so some of the pressure is off now.

February 18th, 2013, 09:10 PM

@llli*midwestmama2010

Re: Older baby not eating food and fell off weight chart

I have tried several different things. She has a big sister, so we're never alone for long. But I have tried that too, thinking maybe her sister was too fun and distracting her. I don't do any arguing or negative things in front of her. I don't want her to associate mealtime with negativity. Often times, I'm actually not even sitting there. I'm a few feet away at the sink or whatever. I have offered her food on my lap, sitting on the floor, I have even chased her around on all fours laughing and playing and offered her food. She won't take a spoon. She tightens up her lips. If I touch her lips with the spoon and leave a glob of Fage yogurt with honey on her lips or something, she will kinda taste it. If I put a glob on her tray for her to feed herself, she just plays with it, or nothing at all. She definitely seems to prefer savory over sweet. I have tried praising her and being goofy when she eats a puff or tries something. She might smile a little. Or sometimes she just gives me a blank stare, like I'm nutso.

February 19th, 2013, 04:54 AM

@llli*mammi

Re: Older baby not eating food and fell off weight chart

O dear, sounds like a very difficult situation. I know my friend was and often still is so desperate, so I can imaginie your frustration quite well.

One other thing my friend did and does was have a close family friend feed her while she left the house (she got so upset watching her daughter reject each and every food she could not stop crying or becoming very angry). So she asked this very close friend around for meal times and he sometimes managed to get more food into her, but also not always (also of course it was a logistics problem he cannot come three times a day and the effect might have worn off anyway).

Or sometimes we visit for a meal and my son (1 year older) feeds the girl, which she funny enough does accept, but also only very small morsels and very picky.
The other things she tried or does I think are not really sound advice at all or to be recommended (like feeding her daughter while she watches tv and is sort of hypnotised by the tv) or candy or cake instead of veggie fingerfood to boost caloric intake etc. but i do understand because the frustatration level is so high but i think the candy and cake approach is counterproductive as the blood sugar level is raised very quickly and she is quickly satisfied but not in a nutrionally sound way.

But at least your daughter nurses, that is great. my friend could not nurse beyond 3 months for medical reasons.